Grip Strength Measurement in the Right Hand Better Predicts Mortality Regardless of Dominant Hand

Abstract

PURPOSE: Muscle strength is often higher when measured on the dominant hand compared to non-dominant hand and there are reports of differences in the mortality rate between left-handed and right-handed people in Korean population. Therefore, it is necessary to longitudinally investigate the effect of the grip strength of the dominant hand on mortality rates.METHODS: Data from the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging (KLoSA) from 2006 to 2016 was assessed and 9,196 research subjects were included at baseline. To analyze the effect of grip strength on mortality rates by measuring that of 1) the right hand, 2) the left hand, and 3) the dominant hand for right-handed and left-handed people analyze the association between grip strength and mental health disorders, generalized estimating equation (GEE) model was used.RESULTS: The association between grip strength and all-cause mortality was statistically significant in both hands. When the grip strength was measured with the right and left hands, respectively, the log likelihood ratio test for the Akaike information criterion (AIC) of both hands for mortality was significant (p=.018). When the grip strength for left-handed people was measured with the right and left hands, the log likelihood ratio test for the AIC of both hands for mortality was significant (p=.0009). Taken together, there was no difference in mortality between right-handed and ambidextrous individuals according to the measurement of right-handed and lefthanded grip, but left-handed individuals had a higher mortality according to the measurement of right-handed grip than that of the left hand, which is the dominant side.CONCLUSIONS: Therefore, there was no difference and mortality according to the dominant hand and the measurement of grip strength in the right hand is a better predictor of mortality than the use of maximum or average value after measuring grip strength in both hands.